A Canterbury Tale [2 Discs] [Criterion Collection]

Director: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger

Overview

One of the most puzzling and offbeat movies to come out of World War II was A Canterbury Tale, a bizarre adaptation of the famous long poem by 14th century English author Geoffrey Chaucer. Made in 1944 and set in the Nazi-threatened Britain of those years, the film centers on a British soldier, an American soldier, and a female shopkeeper in wartime Britain who journey to the Canterbury Cathedral and find their lives changed by the trip. Extremely unusual cinematic techniques and plotting are the mark of the directorial-screenwriting team Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A Canterbury Tale was one of their many collaborative efforts, which included The Forty-Ninth Parallel, The Red Shoes, and such wry World War II comedy-dramas as Stairway To Heaven. A Canterbury Tale skewers British authorities and uses a real American GI (Bob Johnson) in one of its lead roles. It met with criticism in Britain but was hailed in the United States, though most American audiences saw an inferior, shortened version.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/25/2006
UPC:	0715515018920
Original Release:	1944
Source:	CRITERION
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:04:00
Sales rank:	15,701

Special Features

Closed Caption;New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie; Excerpts from the American version, with Kim Hunter; Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; New video interview with actress Sheila Sim; A Pilgrim's Return, a documentary about John Sweet, by Nick Burton and Eddie McMillan; A Canterbury Trail, a new documentary visiting the film locations, by David Thompson; Listen to Britain, a 2001 video-installation piece inspired by A Canterbury Tale, by artist Victor Burgin; Listen to Britain, a 1942 documentary by Humphrey Jennings; A booklet featuring essays by Graham Fuller, Peter von Bagh, and actor John Sweet

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Eric Portman	Thomas Colpeper
Sheila Sim	Alison Smith
Dennis Price	Peter Gibbs
John Sweet	Bob Johnson
Esmond Knight	Narrator/ Soldier/Idiot
Charles Hawtrey	Thomas Duckett
Hay Petrie	Woodcock
George Merritt	Ned Horton
Edward Rigby	Jim Horton
Freda Jackson	Prudence Honeywood
Betty Jardine	Fee Baker
Eliot Makeham	Organist
Leonard Smith	Leslie
Harvey Golden	Sgt. Roczinsky
James Tamsitt	Terry
David Todd	David
Beresford Egan	P.C. Ovenden
Charles Paton	Ernie Brooks
Jane Millican	Susanna Foster
John Slater	Sergeant Len
Michael Golden	Sergeant Smale
Graham Moffatt	Sergeant Stuffy
Esma Cannon	Agnes
Michael Howard	Archie
Judith Furse	Dorothy Bird
Barbara Waring	Polly Finn
Jeanne Shepherd	Gladys Swinton
Joss Ambler	Police Inspector
H.F. Maltby	Mr. Portal
Eric Maturin	Geoffrey's Father
Kim Hunter	Johnson's Girl
Anthony Holles	Sergeant Bassett
Margaret Scudamore	Mrs. Colpeper
Allan Gray	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Powell

Emeric Pressburger

Michael Powell	Screenwriter,Producer
Emeric Pressburger	Screenwriter,Producer
Desmond Dew	Sound/Sound Designer
C.C. Stevens	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- A Canterbury Tale: The Film
1. Prologue [5:47]
2. "Next Stop, Canterbury" [7:33]
3. Mr. Colpeper [7:32]
4. The Hand of Glory [9:10]
5. The Wheelwright [6:09]
6. "Things Don't Always Add Up" [5:23]
7. Landgirl [8:23]
8. Colpeper's Lecture [8:07]
9. Village Mystery [3:32]
10. Sticks and Stones [11:18]
11. Salvage Mission [11:05]
12. Miracles [8:41]
13. Higher Courts [8:32]
14. "Always an Organist" [7:27]
15. The Caravan [7:11]
16. Heavenly Messenger [7:31]
17. End Credits [1:19]
1. Literary Connections [5:47]
2. The Three Travelers [7:33]
3. Eric Portman [7:32]
4. Country and City [9:10]
5. Documentary Realism [6:09]
6. A Minor Miracle [5:23]
7. "Hopping" [8:23]
8. "What Is His Message?" [8:07]
9. Alfred Junge [3:32]
10. A Children's World [11:18]
11. Attention to Detail [11:05]
12. The Power of Imagination [8:41]
13. Court of Conscience [8:32]
14. The Cinematic Cathedral [7:27]
15. Neoromanticims [7:11]
16. Yanks in Britain [7:31]
17. End Credits [1:19]

Menu

Disc #1 -- A Canterbury Tale: The Film
Play the Movie
Chapters
Color Bars
Commentary
Commentary: Off
Commentary: On
Index
Color Bars
American Version Excerpts
Prologue
Ending Sequence
Disc #2 -- A Canterbury Tale: The Supplements
Sheila Sim Interview
Play
John Sweet: A Pilgrim's Return
Play
A Canterbury Trail
Play
Listening to Britain
Burgin Introduction
Listen to Britain (Burgin)
Listen to Britain (Jennings)
Play

Editorial Reviews

A Canterbury Tale is a marvelous film -- and don't worry, one doesn't need an appreciation for Geoffrey Chaucer to be able to enjoy it. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger have once again shown how it is possible to work magic in the cinema -- and as with all the best magic, figuring out how it works is pretty darn difficult. By all rights, Canterbury shouldn't be such an absorbing, engrossing and charming piece of work. The story wanders, starting out as one thing, becoming another, and ending a third. It's even structured in three distinct acts, which should make it feel rather stiff. But Canterbury is anything but stiff. It melts, it floats, it simmers, it soars -- and yet it always knows where it's going, even if the viewer isn't always quite so clear. Perhaps the secret to the film's success is that Powell and Pressburger are only tangentially concerned with the actual details of the plot; what they're really interested in is making the gentlest kind of propaganda film, a war film that gets at the heart of why Britain was at that time embroiled in a devastating war. It beautifully, movingly yet never cloyingly explores the very nature of England -- not the country, but the spirit -- to demonstrate why it was worth the lives of so many people. And yet it does this without becoming heavyhanded. There's also plenty of comedy and beauty in Canterbury, not to mention some of Powell and Pressburger's finest cinematic tricks -- including a breathtaking "hawk into plane" transition at the beginning of the film that is simply stunning. The compositions are masterful and dramatic, the cinematography is just about perfect, and the entire effect is simply a joy. Dependable actors such as Eric Portman and Dennis Price give delightful performances and are joined by novice John Sweet, whose unaffected, natural style is a treat. Canterbury must be experienced.